Archive for the 'Why Move to Raleigh?' Category
Raleigh Makes Kiplinger’s List of 10 Best Cities to Live Work and Play
June 17th, 2008 Categories: Relocation, Why Move to Raleigh?
We have always had lots of relocation business here in the Raleigh area. People seem to relocate to Raleigh from all over the world. Our population has grown 20% over the last seven years.
I’ve personally helped people relocate here from almost every state in the country. There are lots of really good reasons for this, but one that is mentioned again and again is the favorable press we get by being included in lists of best cities in the USA.
The most recent list we have been honored on is Kiplinger’s List of 10 Best Cities to Live, Work and Play. The Kiplinger study looked for the very best cities with strong economies, abundant jobs, reasonable living costs, and plenty of fun things to do. They also made their determination of best cities based on key ingredients for a strong probability of future success.
I’ve lived here all my life, so I tend to get a little used to things and probably take many of the things cited in the Kiplinger study for granted. Fortunately, I get reminded of what a special place this is when I help dozens of great families relocate to Raleigh each year.
People are genuinely excited to move here. Many of them are very brave too. I cannot tell you how many people I have helped relocate to Raleigh who have absolutely no connection to this area other than a desire to create a great life for themselves in a place full of opportunity.
Thinking about relocating? Click here for a free relocation package, full of maps and area info. If you want to talk to a native about what it’s like to live here, feel free to give me a call at 919-602-7000 anytime. I hope to see you in Raleigh real soon!
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Raleigh Gets Trader Joe’s
November 21st, 2007 Categories: Inside the Beltline, North Raleigh, Why Move to Raleigh?
Finally, clients relocating to Raleigh won’t have to give up their weekly trips to Trader Joe’s! It’s been rumored for months, but now it’s official. Trader Joe’s is opening a store in Raleigh. The specialty grocer has confirmed that it will open the Raleigh store in Holly Park shopping center, which is located on Wake Forest Road near I-440.
All the company is saying right now is that the store will be approximately 12,000 square feet and will open by 2009. I’m sure many of the loyal Trader Joe’s fans who have moved here from other parts of the country they served will be pleased when the store opens. I hope they hurry!
This will actually be the third Trader Joe’s location in the Triangle area. I think this says good things about our area! There is also a store in Cary and one in Chapel Hill. I personally don’t live close enough to the Cary location to make it a regular stop for day-to-day shopping, but the time or two that I have stopped in, I was quite impressed. The store was full of great foods, many of which cannot be found in the more traditional grocery store.
Trader Joe’s is regarded as an upscale grocer and this should be really good for the Holly Park shopping center. The strip style shopping center has languished for years without any big draw names. Trader Joe’s could change that. And it doesn’t hurt that the shopping center was purchased a few months ago by Lat Purser & Associates who has plans to give the center a much needed overhaul.
The renovated shopping center could easily serve home owners from Raleigh’s Inside the Beltline area and Midtown neighborhoods. Any comments from readers in cities where Trader Joe’s is located?
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Renowned Economist Says Raleigh Real Estate Market is Solid
September 6th, 2007 Categories: Real Estate Market Trends, Why Move to Raleigh?
Distinguished NCSU Professor of Economics, Dr Michael Walden, spoke to a packed house at the North Raleigh office of Keller Williams Realty on Wednesday. What did he have to say about Raleigh area home sales? He confirmed what I have been saying for some time, based on my personal experiences and observations. We are very fortunate to have missed out on much of the real estate related pain that the rest of the country has been experiencing.
Dr Walden spoke about the current housing and mortgage markets on a national level. He explained how every 10 years, or so, our economy goes through a business cycle which includes expansion and ultimately recession. Along the way the economy grows and slows down. Over time, the trend continues upward.
The last downturn was in 2001 and as we all remember it had much to do with a huge run up and subsequent downturn in the technology sector. This time the run up and resulting downturn is in the housing sector. In major markets across the country, prices got too far ahead of affordability. This was not sustainable. Fortunately, this did not happen in Raleigh.
Dr Walden emphatically said he does not think we are currently headed for a recession. Based on the 10 year cycle, and the last downturn being in 2001, we will likely experience a more serious contraction in the economy by the end of the decade. But for now, Dr Walden speculates that the national economy will experience about another six months of reacting to lower overall home prices and tightening of mortgage lending criteria. He thinks growth will be sub-par, maybe only 1–3%, but that we will come out the other side without significant damage to the economy.
So what does all this mean to Raleigh home sellers and buyers? The bottom line is real estate continues to be a great investment vehicle available to the vast majority of citizens. Where else can you spend money for a staple of life (housing) and end up making a profit, over time, from the money you have paid?
And in Raleigh, we are in a rather unique position of being in a market where home prices did not increase ahead of affordability. Raleigh home prices continue to appreciate at a more normal pace. Just like they did when other markets were experiencing unnatural increases of 15–20% per year.
Real estate will continue to be a great investment, over time, even in these difficult markets across the country. Home buyers and sellers in Raleigh will do even better, especially in the short term.
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Why the Raleigh Real Estate Market is #1 in the Nation
August 19th, 2007 Categories: Real Estate Market Trends, Why Move to Raleigh?
An article on Forbes.com from late June declared Raleigh, North Carolina as the number one home seller’s market in the US. Their determination was based on three metrics.
- A measure of current inventory. This is simple a supply and demand analysis which Forbes based on numbers from the National Association of Realtors and Moody’s Economy. Current inventory is the measurement of how long it would take to sell all currently listed homes at the current sales rate. According to Forbes, the Raleigh real estate market is number one in the nation in this category.
- The change in the sales rate over the past year.
- Price stability. This was considered as a way to exclude upstart markets and only include real estate markets with steady, sustainable home values.
The Forbes article cited Raleigh’s strong economy, moderate growth, and carefully paced building as key factors in the high ranking. So how does this stack up compared to a local Realtor’s opinion of things? Let’s start by looking at current inventory.
With the number of current listings in Raleigh at 3850, the current inventory is about 4 months. As you can see in the chart, it varies slightly depending on whether we use the stats for July home sales or 2nd quarter of ‘07.
We can also look at the change in average sell price by comparing activity for the second quarter of this year with the same quarter of 2006.
Average Sell Price Comparison
Q206 $245,849
Q207 $254,124
The average sell price has increased $8,275, or 3.4% by this comparison. Keep in mind that the 2nd and 3rd quarter of 2006 were above average with closed sales of 2,889 and 2,952 respectively. Actual resale appreciation, which is different than increase in average sell price, was closer to 5%.
My conclusion is that we do indeed have a very good home seller’s market here in Raleigh, North Carolina. It’s growing at a normal pace that allows home sellers to make a good return for their investment and home buyers to get into a healthy real estate market with very good opportunities for future growth.
I think the major reason it continues to be so steady is we have never had the sharp run up in prices that much of the rest of the nation has experienced. Overall, we are keeping pace with affordability.
If you’re interested in selling your home click here and submit a request for a free home value analysis.
Related Articles
The Impact of a Slow Market Somewhere Else on Raleigh Home Sales
North Raleigh Real Estate Market Snapshot
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Southern Hospitality is Warm Welcome for Clients Relocating to Raleigh
August 15th, 2007 Categories: Why Move to Raleigh?
I help lots of people relocate to Raleigh. Many of them hear what a great place this is to live through magazines and various lists of best places to work, live, run a business, etc. Best of all is the large number of recent relocation clients who are telling me they heard about Raleigh through word of mouth.
One comment that I always hear from my relocation clients is how friendly everyone is here. That’s quite a compliment. Raleigh is also known for a great real estate market, top notch universities, a robust economy, and a good balance of big city amenities and small town communities. Relocation clients typically mention one or two of these things as reasons they move here, but the one thing everyone mentions is our warm and inviting brand of southern hospitality.
If a place has to be known for something, I guess friendliness is a good thing to be known for. If you are planning to move to the Raleigh area be prepared for an instant immersion in this thing called southern hospitality.
When you go to a restaurant or a store the waitress or clerk will make eye contact, smile and ask you how you’re doing. When someone asks you for something, they will say please. When you are approaching a door the person in front of you is likely to pause long enough to hold it open for you.
Oh, and when that happens, don’t forget to say thank you. We’re really big on saying please and thank you here. And don’t be too surprised when someone refers to you as ma’am or sir. They’re just being polite.
My favorite southern hospitality story is one of a young man I helped relocate to Raleigh for a job at Cisco. As we visited various neighborhoods looking for a house to buy, people would say hello, or good day, or how’s it going as they walked by us. If they didn’t speak, they would at least smile and give a friendly nod just to acknowledge our presence.
After this happened a half dozen times or so, my client told me how impressed he was with all the people I knew. I had to tell him that I actually did not know a single one of the people who had been speaking, smiling or nodding as we passed by them. They were all just practicing southern hospitality.
If you are considering relocating to Raleigh, or any of the surrounding areas, click here and request a free relocation package. It contains some really great maps, area info, home info, and much more.
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Raleigh, North Carolina Hits Fast Company’s List of Top 30 Fast Cities
July 22nd, 2007 Categories: Why Move to Raleigh?
There are lots of people relocating to Raleigh, North Carolina and one thing that helps focus attention on us is the large number of national publications that put Raleigh on (usually very near the top) various lists of best places to live, work, run a business, etc.
Well, it’s happened again. This time Fast Company magazine has placed Raleigh on their list of Top 30 Fast Cities and we are ranked as the number 3 R&D cluster in the world! Not too bad, huh?
The profile they created for Raleigh states that we have the highest percentage of college graduates anywhere in the US between the ages of 25 and 34. With institutes of higher learning such as Duke University, University of North Carolina, and North Carolina State all located within 30 miles of each other, this statistic should not come as a major surprise.
The profile mentions Red Hat and SAS Institute as two local top Fast Companies. I’m surprised that Cisco, IBM, Sony Ericsson, or one of the biotech companies didn’t make the list of local Fast Companies. Maybe they had to pick just the top two?
The profile went on to mention that we have been doing high-tech right for quite a while. They cited our long range planning (Research Triangle Park), a great business climate, high quality of life and steady stream of the brightest and the best coming from our three major universities as reasons for Raleigh’s success.
It’s articles like this that bring a great many people here looking for homes in Raleigh and surrounding areas such as Cary, Morrisville, Apex and Wake Forest. If you’re looking to relocate to Raleigh to be in a climate of fast business growth and high quality of life, give me a call at 919-602-7000, or send me an email and I’ll be glad to help you put together a plan to make it happen.
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